Kaleidoscope

ABSTRACT

A kaleidoscope having a hollow base with a slot along a portion of its periphery and a pair of upstanding reflective walls extending fixedly along the radial edges of a sector-shaped opening in the top of the base, and a disk movable into and out of the hollow base through its peripheral slot and being rotatably located when within the base to expose designs at the opening of the latter for kaleidoscopic display by the reflective walls, such rotatably located disk having its margin projecting through the slot for manual rotation of the disk.

Inventor Peter Lewis Hong Kong Appl. No. 10,129 Filed Feb. 10, 1970 Patented Sept. 7, 1971 Assignee Miner Industries, Inc.

New York, N.Y.

KALEIDOSCOPE 9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[1.8. CI 350/4 G02b 7/08 Field 0i Search 350/4; 3 5 3/ I 2 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,020,796 2/1962 Kaplan 350/4 Primary Examiner-Donald O. Woodiel Attorneys-Lewis H. Eslinger, Alvin Sinderbrand and Curtis,

Morris & Safford ABSTRACT: A kaleidoscope having a hollow base with a slot along a portion of its periphery and a pair of upstanding reflective walls extending fixedly along the radial edges of a sectorshaped opening in the top of the base, and a disk movable into and out of the hollow base through its peripheral slot and being rotatably located when within the base to expose designs at the opening of the latter for kaleidoscopic display by the reflective walls, such rotatably located disk having its margin projecting through the slot for manual rotation of the disk.

PATENTEIJ SEP 7 I97| IN VENTOR PETER LE WIS A T'I'ORNI Y KAILEIDOSCGPIE This invention relates generally to kaleidoscopes, and more particularly is directed to improvements in kaleidoscopes of the type in which a pair of reflective wall surfaces enclosing an acute angle provide a kaleidoscopic display of designs moved past one end of the space between such surfaces in a plane normal to the planes of the reflective surfaces.

Although various kaleidoscopes of the described type have been proposed, such existing devices are either complex, and hence costly, or entail difficulties in changing the designs to be employed or in effecting the movements thereof for achieving the kaleidoscopic effect.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive kaleidoscope for the kaleidoscopic display of various designs provided on easily interchangeable cards or the like.

Another object is to provide a kaleidoscope, as aforesaid, in which movement of a selected card for the kaleidoscopic display of the respective designs can be easily effected without the possibility of damage to the card so that the latter can be formed of pasteboard or the like without undesirably reducing its useful life.

In accordance with an aspect of this invention, a kaleidoscope comprises a hollow base with a slot along a portion of its periphery and a pair of upstanding reflective or mirrored walls extending fixedly along the radial edges of a sector-shaped opening in the top wall of the base, and a disk movable into and out of the hollow base through its peripheral slot and being rotatably located, when within the base, to expose designs carried by the disk at the opening of the base for kaleidoscopic display by the reflective walls and further to cause the margin of the disk to project from the slot for manual rotation of the disk.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the designs to be exposed at the opening of the base are printed or otherwise provided on a plurality of circular cards which are interchangeably supported by the disk, and the latter is constructed and arranged to protect the supported card and to facilitate the interchanging ofthe cards.

In order to facilitate the movement of the support disk into and out of the hollow body, the rotatable mounting of the disk within the body is effected by a central boss depending from the disk and engaging slidably in a groove extending along the bottom wall of the body from the peripheral slot of the latter.

The above, and other objects, features and advantages of this invention, will be apparent in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a kaleidoscope according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the kaleidoscope;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 3- 3 on FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a disk forming part of the kaleidoscope and which is shown removed from the body of the latter;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view ofthe disk taken along the line 5 5 on FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of one of the design-carrying cards which may be interchangeably mounted on the disk of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and initially to FIG. 1 thereof, it will be seen that a kaleidoscope 10 in accordance with this invention, as there illustrated, generally comprises a hollow body II having an upstanding wall assembly 11?. extending therefrom, and a disk i3 receivable within hollow body I1 and adapted to support a selected one of several interchangeable circular cards 14 having designs thereon to be kaleidoscopically displayed.

The hollow body II is shown to comprise substantially coextensive, spaced top and bottom walls 15 and 16 (FIGS. ll

and 3) and a peripheral wall 17 joining walls 15 and 16 and having a slot 118 extending along a portion of peripheral wall 17 (FIGS. 1, .2 and 3). The top wall 15 of body II is provided with a sector-shaped opening 19 (FIG. I) with the radial edges 20 and 21 of such opening enclosing an acute angle, and the wall assembly 12 is shown to include a pair of upstanding walls 22 and 23 fixedly joined to top wall 15 and extending along radial edges 20 and 21, respectively. The upstanding walls 22 and 23 have reflective or mirrored surfaces 24 at the sides thereof facing toward opening 19 and, in a preferred embodiment where walls 22 and 23 and the entire hollow body 11 are molded integrally of a suitable plastic, such reflective surfaces 24 may be constituted by polished metallic layers or foils applied to plastic walls 22 and 23.

Assuming that the angle enclosed between walls 22 and 23 opens in the direction toward the front of hollow base Illl, it will be seen that, in the illustrated embodiment, the front portion of base 11 is substantially rectangular with the peripheral wall 17 being rectilinear along the front and sides thereof, whereas the rearward portion of base 111 is semicircular and has slot 18 extending along the entire periphery thereof. Further, as shown, the sector-shaped opening 19 is formed in top wall 15 at the forward portion of the hollow base and has the point of convergence 25 of its radial edges 20 and 21 substantially at the center of the semicircular periphery of the rearward portion of the base.

The disk 13 which may also be suitably molded of a plastic is movable into and out of the interior of hollow body Ill through slot 18 and is diametrically dimensioned so that, when disk 13 is rotatably located within hollow body 11 so as to have its center substantially registered with the convergence point 25 of the radial edges of opening 19, as hereinafter described, the margin or rim 26 of disk I3 will project outwardly through slot 18 so as to be manually engageable for effecting rotation of the disk (FIGS. 1 and 2). The margin or rim 26 of disk 13 is preferably serrated so as to facilitate the manual rotation thereof and, as shown particularly on FIGS. 4 and 5, disk 13 has a circular, upwardly opening recess 27 to receive each of the cards 14 on which the designs to be kaleidoscopically displayed are printed or otherwise provided. In order to facilitate the removal of a card 14 from recess 27, disk 13 has at least one aperture 28 through which a finger can be projected upwardly for pushing a card 14 out of the recess. Further, in order to avoid inadvertent removal of a card M from recess 27, and particularly to ensure that the card will lie flat within recess 27 during operation of kaleidoscope I0, disk 13 has one or more tabs 29 projecting radially inward from the periphery of recess 27 and being spaced upwardly from the bottom of the latter by a distance slightly larger than the thickness of each card 14, and each of the cards I4 (FIG. 6) has a peripheral notch 30 positionally corresponding to each of the tabs 29 and through which the corresponding tab 29 can pass during insertion and removal of the card 14 with respect to recess 27.

In order to rotatably locate disk 13 within hollow body 11 and to facilitate the movement of the disk into and out of the hollow body, bottom wall 16 has means, for example, in the form of a raised ridge 31 thereon (FIG. 3), defining an upwardly opening groove 32 extending forwardly from the midportion of slot 18 and being laterally dimensioned to slidably receive a circular boss 33 depending centrally from disk 13 (FIGS. 4, and 5). The forward end 34 of slot 32 is semicircular (FIG. 3) and has its center registered with the convergence point 25 so that, when boss 33 abuts against forward end 34 of the slot, as shown on FIG. 3, the center ofdisk 13 will register with convergence point 25.

In using the above described kaleidoscope l0, disk 13 is withdrawn from body II by grasping the portions of its rim 26 projecting from slot 13 at the opposite sides of body Ill and by pulling disk I3 rearwardly with respect to the body so as to slide boss 33 along groove 32 until it is free of the latter and the entire disk is outside the hollow body. A selected card 14 having the desired designs thereon is inserted in recess 27 of disk 13 with the notches 30 being registered with the tabs 29 during such insertion. After the selected disk 14 is inserted in recess 27, the disk and card are turned relative to each other so that tabs 29 and notches 30 will no longer register, whereby tabs 29 overlie peripheral portions of card 14 to securely retain the latter within recess 27. The disk 13 with the selected card 14 retained in its recess 27 is then inserted into body ll through slot 13 with boss 33 being moved along groove 32 until it engages against the forward end 34 of the slot so as to rotatai'iy locate disk 13 and card M within the hollow body. When thus located, a portion of card 14 is exposed at opening 19, as shown on FIG. 1, and, as disk 13 is manually rotated at its projecting serrated margin 26, the reflective or mirrored surfaces 24 of wall assembly 12 will effect the kaleidoscopic display of the design appearing at the exposed portion of card 14.

When it is desired to change the designs being kaleidoscopically displayed, disk 13 is removed from hollow body 11, as previously described, and the removal of a card 114 from recess 27 is effected by first turning the card relative to disk 13 so as to register tabs 29 with notches 30 and then pressing the card upwardly out of recess 27 by inserting a finger upwardly through aperture 28 of the disk. A new card can then be inserted in recess 27, in the manner previously described, whereupon disk 13 is returned to within hollow body 11 to prepare the kaleidoscope for renewed operation.

lt will be apparent that the kaleidoscope it), as described is of simple construction and may be easily molded of a suitable plastic so as to make possible its inexpensive production. Further, in the kaleidoscope it), the several cards 14 hearing the desired designs may be easily interchanged and, when a card is mounted in the recess 27 of disk 13, such card is fully protected against the marring of its edges or other portions, particularly as rotation of the selected card 14 is effected by manual engagement with the rim 26 of disk 13, and not by manual engagement with the edge of the card. Thus, as described, the designs may be printed or otherwise provided on cards of pasteboard or thick paper to reduce the cost thereof without unduly reducing the useful life of such cards.

Although an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawing, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to that precise embodiment, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A kaleidoscope comprising a hollow base including spaced top and bottom walls and a peripheral wall joining said top and bottom walls and having a slot along a portion of said peripheral wall and a sector-shaped opening in said top wall with the radial edges of said opening enclosing an acute angle, a pair of upstanding walls fixedly joined to said top wall and extending along said radial edges of said opening in the top wall, said upstanding walls having reflective surfaces at the sides thereof facing toward said opening, a disk adapted to carry designs on a surface thereof and being movable into and out of said hollow base through said slot in the peripheral wall, and means integral with said disk and said base, respectively, and which are interengageable upon movement of said disk into said hollow body to rotatably locate said disk relative to said body with a portion of said disk underlying said opening for exposing designs on said disk to kaleidoscopic display by said reflective surfaces, and with the margin of said disk projecting outwardly through said slot to permit manual rotation of the disk for exchanging the designs exposed at said opening.

2. A kaleidoscope according to claim 1, in which said disk is adapted to support interchangeable circular cards having said designs thereon.

3. A kaleidoscope according to claim 2, in which said disk has a circular, upwardly opening recess to receive each of said interchangeable cards, and at least one aperture in said disk opening into said recess and through which a fin er can be projected upwardly for effecting removal of a car from said recess.

4. A kaleidoscope according to claim 3, in which said disk has at least one tab projecting radially inward from the periphery of said recess and being spaced upwardly from the bottom of the latter, and each of the cards has a peripheral notch for each said tab through which the latter can pass during insertion and removal of the card with respect to the recess when said tab and notch register, whereby, after insertion of a card in said recess, turning of the card relative to said disk will cause said tab to overlie the card periphery for retaining the card in said recess.

5. A kaleidoscope according to claim 3, in which said margin of the disk is serrated.

6. A kaleidoscope according to claim 2, in which said interengageable means includes a central boss depending from said disk, and means defining an upwardly opening groove in said bottom wall extending from said slot and dimensioned to slidably receive said boss.

7. A kaleidoscope according to claim 6, in which the end of said groove remote from said slot is located under the convergence of said radial edges of the opening in said top wall so that, when said boss is moved along said groove to said end thereof, the center of said disk will register substantially with said convergence.

8. A kaleidoscope according to claim l, in which said im terengageable means includes a central boss depending from said disk, and means defining an upwardly opening groove in said bottom wall extending from said slot and dimensioned to slidabiy receive said boss.

9. A kaleidoscope according to claim 8, in which the end of said groove remote from said slot is located under the convergence of said radial edges of the opening in said top wall so that, when said boss is moved along said groove to said end thereof, the center of said disk will register substantially with said convergence. 

1. A kaleidoscope comprising a hollow base including spaced top and bottom walls and a peripheral wall joining said top and bottom walls and having a sLot along a portion of said peripheral wall and a sector-shaped opening in said top wall with the radial edges of said opening enclosing an acute angle, a pair of upstanding walls fixedly joined to said top wall and extending along said radial edges of said opening in the top wall, said upstanding walls having reflective surfaces at the sides thereof facing toward said opening, a disk adapted to carry designs on a surface thereof and being movable into and out of said hollow base through said slot in the peripheral wall, and means integral with said disk and said base, respectively, and which are interengageable upon movement of said disk into said hollow body to rotatably locate said disk relative to said body with a portion of said disk underlying said opening for exposing designs on said disk to kaleidoscopic display by said reflective surfaces, and with the margin of said disk projecting outwardly through said slot to permit manual rotation of the disk for exchanging the designs exposed at said opening.
 2. A kaleidoscope according to claim 1, in which said disk is adapted to support interchangeable circular cards having said designs thereon.
 3. A kaleidoscope according to claim 2, in which said disk has a circular, upwardly opening recess to receive each of said interchangeable cards, and at least one aperture in said disk opening into said recess and through which a finger can be projected upwardly for effecting removal of a card from said recess.
 4. A kaleidoscope according to claim 3, in which said disk has at least one tab projecting radially inward from the periphery of said recess and being spaced upwardly from the bottom of the latter, and each of the cards has a peripheral notch for each said tab through which the latter can pass during insertion and removal of the card with respect to the recess when said tab and notch register, whereby, after insertion of a card in said recess, turning of the card relative to said disk will cause said tab to overlie the card periphery for retaining the card in said recess.
 5. A kaleidoscope according to claim 3, in which said margin of the disk is serrated.
 6. A kaleidoscope according to claim 2, in which said interengageable means includes a central boss depending from said disk, and means defining an upwardly opening groove in said bottom wall extending from said slot and dimensioned to slidably receive said boss.
 7. A kaleidoscope according to claim 6, in which the end of said groove remote from said slot is located under the convergence of said radial edges of the opening in said top wall so that, when said boss is moved along said groove to said end thereof, the center of said disk will register substantially with said convergence.
 8. A kaleidoscope according to claim 1, in which said interengageable means includes a central boss depending from said disk, and means defining an upwardly opening groove in said bottom wall extending from said slot and dimensioned to slidably receive said boss.
 9. A kaleidoscope according to claim 8, in which the end of said groove remote from said slot is located under the convergence of said radial edges of the opening in said top wall so that, when said boss is moved along said groove to said end thereof, the center of said disk will register substantially with said convergence. 